Tag: Grove 34

Meet “My Place” Artist Ellen Stedfeld

May 28 2025 @ 7:00PM

Ellen Stedfeld created the artwork for our May 3 generative workshop with Queens Memory and Greater Astoria Historical Society. Participants put themselves on the map by contributing their Six-Word “My Place in Queens” Memoirs.

Get your tickets here and come add your six-word memoir to the map at the show!

Visit Ellen this weekend, May 17 & 18, at the 2025 LIC Arts Open. Her studio door is open at 43-01 22nd St, Studio 352 (3rd floor, keep to the right). Learn more here and meet Ellen below.

Ellen Stedfeld and “My Place in Queens” Map

A native New Yorker, I was inspired from an early age to draw the world around me, and create my own masterpieces like those seen in art museums.

With a lifelong love of both reading and art, I naturally gravitated to forms of visual storytelling such as picture books, animation, and manga/comics.

After years of training, I have continued to express this passion for creativity by engaging in original and collaborative artwork as a freelance illustrator.

Many of my concoctions include an interactive element, engaging the viewer, making them privy to the process and inviting them to become a participant.

You can find me drawing at comic shops, conventions, music shows, theaters, open mics, panel discussions, along the subways & wherever my travels lead!

Event Information

May 28 2025 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (3183 34th St., Astoria)

May 17, 2025 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , , ,

Meet “My Place” Storyteller Mary Lannon

May 28 2025 @ 7:00PM

Happy Birthday to “My Place” storyteller Mary Lannon. Our storytellers are busy revising their true tales on the page.

Get your tickets here to see them swap stories inspired by shared Queens spaces on stage. But first, let’s meet Mary!

Mary Lannon’s unpublished novel, Tide Girl, was a finalist for the 2023 PEN\Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Her stories have appeared at Necessary Fiction, Story, New World Writing, and elsewhere. She teaches writing and women and gender studies at Nassau Community College in Long Island, NY, and lives in Kew Gardens, where she runs a reading series at the local cemetery. More information at MaryLannon.com.

Event Information

May 28 2025 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (3183 34th St., Astoria)

May 15, 2025 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , ,

My Place in Queens

Artwork by Ellen Stedfeld

What a wonderful “My Place in Queens” generative workshop this Saturday, May 3, at the Queens Public Library, Broadway Branch, with Queens Memory and the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

Join us at Grove 34 for No, YOU Tell It! “My Place” on May 28, to see how the stories we started together turn out!

Our four curated No, YOU Tell It! “My Place” storytellers, alongside a packed room full of community participants, generated poems and personal stories inspired by the historical significance behind the people’s names that grace Queens streets, parks, monuments, and more.

The opening prompt was inspired by a 2004 New York Times article Blood at the Gas Pumps; Queens Families Still Have Their Legacy, if Not Their Land, featuring Bob Singleton, Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society. 

What do you feel like you were born knowing? About your family history? Queens? Both.

Then, participants rotated through four creative stations organized and facilitated by Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons, using the guest bell provided by Queens Memory curator J. Faye Yuan.

Station I: Queens Name Explorer

J. Faye Yuan gave a special presentation on the Queens Name Explorer, an interactive digital map that explores the individuals whose names grace public spaces across the borough of Queens.

Participants were then welcome to directly engage with the Queen Name Explorer on the screen and through customized coloring pages.

Station II: History Hub with Bob

Bob Singleton presented four historical tales that he prepared for this event to highlight William Hallett, Hallet’s Cove, and Socrates Sculpture Park, such as this “British Soldier’s Story.”

Cemetery experts believed this unearthed stone could have been an uncarved tombstone.

After each of the four talks, the participants could ask Bob questions.

Did anyone ask why Hallett is sometimes spelled with one “t” and other times two?

Station III: Hallett’s Cove “Then & Now”

NYTI Story Coach and QUEENSBOUND Board Member Pichchenda Bao gave participants time to study a series of Hallett’s Cove “Then & Now” photographs, such as this pair. 

View looking south down the East River from between 1st Street and the waterfront. Hallett’s Cove in the foreground, Sohmer & Co. Piano factory building center left, Manhattan and Triboro Bridge right, 1945. Photo from the Queens Public Library Digital Archives.

View from the boardwalk adjacent to Astoria Ferry Terminal. Piano factory building and Hallett’s Cove Beach in the center, next to Socrates Sculpture Park, 2025. Photo courtesy of Nick Capezzra.

Then Chenda guided participants through a poetry prompt inspired by her work with Queensbound founder KC Trommer, who has a great poetry workshop coming up with Poets House that starts on May 17.

Check out the In-Person 4-Week Workshop: KC Trommer: City Poet: Writing Ekphrasis.

Love this poem written in response to the prompt by our own Tim Lindner!

STATION IV: Add Something to the Map

Speaking of Tim Lindner! At our final station, Tim turned the Queens Name Explorer’s “Add Something to the Map” feature into a writing prompt to help participants brainstorm their personal connections to our shared Queens spaces.

Finally! Six-Word “My Place in Queens” Memoirs

The workshop culminated with the participants coming back together to distill all that they’d learned and written in the past two hours into a six-word memoir they added to the map created by artist Ellen Stedfeld. What a day!

Keep it going! Come to the No, YOU Tell It! “My Place” show on May 28th, and add your Six-Word “My Place in Queens” Memoir to the map.

Tickets available here.

Special thanks to William Klein and Palisades Convention Management for all the photocopies! 

May 5, 2025 Post Comment News Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Next Show! “My Place” on May 28

May 28 2025 @ 7:00PM

Tickets are available for our team-up show with Queens Memory and the Greater Astoria Historical Society!

No, YOU Tell It! “My Place” explores the personal stories behind our shared Queens spaces. Purchase tickets here.  

At our May 3 workshop, the four No, YOU Tell It! storytellers will interact with the Queens Name Explorer—a digital map developed by Queens Memory—to find “My Place” in Queens.

Feel free to come join in on the fun! The free May 3 workshop at the Queens Public Library at Broadway in Astoria is open to all!

On May 28, come hear the four NYTI storytellers trade true tales inspired by the historical significance behind the people’s names that grace Queens streets, parks, monuments, and more. 

Plus, artwork by Ellen Stedfeld (ellesaurarts.com) and story trivia for fun prizes!

Storytellers:

Francisco Delgado

Ari Figueroa

Mary Lannon

Wichuda “Tang” McConnell

NYTI Creative Team:

KJ Fitzsimmons

Pichchenda Bao

Erika Iverson

Tim Lindner

***

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

This organization is funded in part by the Howard Gilman Foundation administered by Flushing Town Hall.

Event Information

May 28 2025 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (3183 34th St., Astoria)

April 23, 2025 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , , , , ,

Gratitude & Support

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so grateful for so many things this year: our storytellers for sharing their experiences, the community for participating in our shows, and the vibrant art and history all around us.

Giving Tuesday is one week away. Look below to see what your generosity helped create in 2024, and click here to make a tax-deductible donation for a new year of No, YOU Tell It!

Every dollar you donate directly supports our storytellers and artists.

Bonus: For every donation of $50 or more, we will send you a copy of  “The Hell Gate Kid on Holiday” zine created by A. King McCarty and inspired by Bob Singleton’s poem “The Legend of the Hell Gate Kid.”

Another great way to support our series is following us on your favorite social media platform and encouraging friends to do the same:

Watch this highlights video from our “Left My Heart” show for a snippet of what’s filling our hearts this holiday season.

Shout out to the Greater Astoria Historical Society and Sunnyside Arts for all their help and support in creating and hosting the special “Art Heart” community workshop that kicked off our show.

Huge thanks to our lovely venue, Grove 34.

Thank you for your continued support of No, YOU Tell It! by donating on Dec 3 and helping spread the word about our series.

November 26, 2024 1 comment News Tags: , , ,

“Left My Heart” Part 1: January Yoon Cho and Catherine Kapphahn (Episode 77)

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For the first time, our four storytellers participated in a Queens community “Art Heart” event about a month before the show, where all the participants generated and shared personal stories inspired by the life and music of Astoria legend Tony Bennett from the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives.

What started that day grew into this heartfelt story swap about the intricacies of mothers, daughters, language, music, and the immigrant experience.

Give a listen to the first half of our “Left My Heart” show performed at Grove 34 on June 5, 2024. Full program here.

Story partners Catherine Kapphahn and January Yoon Cho

Read this imaginary interview with Tony Bennett published in the Queens Gazette by Bob Singleton, Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

Stories

  • MOTHER’S DREAM, by January Yoon Cho, performed by Catherine Kapphahn
  • LOPSIDED STAR, by Catherine Kapphahn, performed by January Yoon Cho

Storyteller Bios

January Yoon Cho, an interdisciplinary visual artist, works with video, photography, and drawing, intertwining themes of social conformity, feminism, and environmentalism. She has exhibited across the US and Europe. Notably, Cho’s The Walk Project received fiscal sponsorship from the NY Foundation for the Arts and grants from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund and Puffin Grant for Feminist and Environmental Art. Cho has taught at Parsons School of Design, New School University, and Hanyang University (Seoul). Originally from Seoul, Korea, she moved to the US in 1990 for her art education, earning a BFA from RISD and an MFA from Parsons.

Catherine Kapphahn is a writer, educator, storyteller, and speaker. Her memoir Immigrant Daughter: Stories You Never Told Mereceived The Center for Fiction’s Christopher Doheny Award and was published by Audible. Her manuscript Miseducation of a Dyslexic Girl: a Memoir in Poems and Classrooms was recently long-listed for the Steel Toe Books Poetry Award. Catherine received grants from the Queens Council on the Arts and City Artist Corps. Her writing has appeared in Queensbound, Motherwell Magazine, Croatia Week, Newtown Literary, the Feminist Press Anthology This is the Way We Say Goodbye, Astoria Life, and CURE Magazine. Catherine is an adjunct lecturer at City University of New York at Lehman College in the Bronx, where her students’ stories inspire her. Catherine is also a yoga teacher. She grew up near the mountains in Colorado and now lives between two bridges in Queens, New York, with her husband and two sons.

November 21, 2024 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , ,

“Hell Gate” Part 2: Alicia Lieu and A. King McCarty (Episode 76)

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After the main arch was completed, a writer for the New York Tribune said: Perhaps never in human history has a mechanical triumph of such magnitude been launched with so little fanfare.

In the second half of our Hell Gate show, founding member and story director Erika Iverson interviews the authors before their story partners take the stage so that we can learn more about them and the inspiration for their true tales, the history of the Hell Gate Bridge from the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives.

Listen to Part 1 here.

Story Partners Alicia Lieu and A. King McCarty

Featured Stories

THE BRIDGE TO THE BRIDGE, by Alicia Lieu, performed by A. King McCarty, and directed by KJ Fitzsimmons

UNDER THE HELL GATE, by A. King McCarty, performed by Alicia Lieu, and directed by Erika Iverson

Bios

Alicia Lieu, Jackson Heights/Elmhurst based composer/conductor hails from San Jose, California. As a composer, she has been awarded grants from QCA and City Artist Corps. She is the creator of Dance-it-Yourself Nutcracker and co-founder of nonprofits Composers Collective, Pitches Brew, and New York Conducting Institute. She spent two years living abroad in Shanghai, China, before moving to NYC and conducting has taken her to Russia, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. She earned her B.A. in Music Composition from UC Santa Barbara, M.M. in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from UT El Paso.

A. King McCarty (Ashley King) is an artist, writer, actor, musician and founder of Artstoria New York with her husband and fellow creator, Graham McCarty. She is a two-time recipient of the Queens Community Art Grant and an Art Hotel resident artist. She lives near the Hell Gate Bridge with her husband, son and lots of plants and comic books. Visit her on Instagram at @artstoriany and @akingmccarty

***

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

October 22, 2024 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , , ,

“Hell Gate” Part 1: Jackie Sherbow and Mia Arias Tsang (Episode 75)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

“With a regular coat of paint that bridge can last as long as the pyramids.” – Bob Singleton, Executive Director, Greater Astoria Historical Society from Hell Gate Bridge, an Astoria icon, turns 100 years old in AMNY, March 27, 2017

Our September Hell Gate show at Grove 34 in Astoria was a Queens-based Bookend Event for the 2024 Brooklyn Book Festival. Four Queens storytellers traded true tales inspired by the history of the Hell Gate Bridge from the archives of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

Before their story partner takes the stage, story coach Pichchenda Bao asks the authors a Hell Gate-themed question to learn a bit more about the iconic bridge and the writer. The full program is here.

Story partners Jackie Sherbow and Mia Arias Tsang. Photo credit Yui Kitamura.

Featured Stories

CROSSING THE BRIDGE by Jackie Sherbow, performed by Mia Arias Tsang, directed by Erika Iverson

REAWAKENING by Mia Arias Tsang, performed by Jackie Sherbow, and directed by KJ Fitzsimmons

Bios

Jackie Sherbow is the Woodside, Queens-based author of Harbinger (Finishing Line Press, 2019), publisher at THRASH Press, and senior managing editor of Ellery Queen’s and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazines. Their poems and stories have appeared in places like The Sierra Nevada Review, Luna Luna, Mystery Magazine, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. They are the former editor-in-chief and currently serve on the board of directors of Newtown Literary, the journal and organization dedicated to the writers of Queens.

Mia Arias Tsang is a writer and freelance editor based in New York City. Her work explores themes of queer desire, intimacy, and disconnect. A Tin House Summer Workshop alum, her work has appeared in Copy, Autostraddle, Half Mystic Press, Fatal Flaw Magazine, and Broad Recognition Magazine, among others. She is a copy editor for the literary magazine Identity Theory and program coordinator at the literary nonprofit House of SpeakEasy, and writes a newsletter called Overripe Peach. She lives in Queens with her cat, Peanut, and is currently working on a novel.

***

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

October 14, 2024 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , ,

Look! “Hell Gate” Program

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

See you tonight at Grove 34! Tickets are still available here.

Take a look at our four storytellers whose stories started at our “Hell Gate” Sip & Scribe at Sunnyside Arts. Want to join in on the creative writing fun? The next Sip & Scribe is October 4th! Register here. 

Stories

CROSSING THE BRIDGE by Jackie Sherbow, performed by Mia Arias Tsang, directed by Erika Iverson

REAWAKENING by Mia Arias Tsang, performed by Jackie Sherbow, and directed by KJ Fitzsimmons

THE BRIDGE TO THE BRIDGE, by Alicia Lieu, performed by A. King McCarty, and directed by KJ Fitzsimmons

UNDER THE HELL GATE, by A. King McCarty, performed by Alicia Lieu, and directed by Erika Iverson

Special Guests

Bob Singleton, Executive Director, Greater Astoria Historical Society, and A. King McCarty present “The Hell Gate Kid.”

Plus, a live performance from Natalia ‘Saw Lady’® Paruz!

Thank You

Shout out to our wonderful story coaches, Tim Lindner and Pichchenda Bao.

Bios

Jackie Sherbow is the Woodside, Queens-based author of Harbinger (Finishing Line Press, 2019), publisher at THRASH Press, and senior managing editor of Ellery Queen’s and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazines. Their poems and stories have appeared in places like The Sierra Nevada Review, Luna Luna, Mystery Magazine, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. They are the former editor-in-chief and currently serve on the board of directors of Newtown Literary, the journal and organization dedicated to the writers of Queens.

Mia Arias Tsang is a writer and freelance editor based in New York City. Her work explores themes of queer desire, intimacy, and disconnect. A Tin House Summer Workshop alum, her work has appeared in Copy, Autostraddle, Half Mystic Press, Fatal Flaw Magazine, and Broad Recognition Magazine, among others. She is a copy editor for the literary magazine Identity Theory and program coordinator at the literary nonprofit House of SpeakEasy, and writes a newsletter called Overripe Peach. She lives in Queens with her cat, Peanut, and is currently working on a novel.

Alicia Lieu, Jackson Heights/Elmhurst based composer/conductor hails from San Jose, California. As a composer, she has been awarded grants from QCA and City Artist Corps. She is the creator of Dance-it-Yourself Nutcracker and co-founder of nonprofits Composers Collective, Pitches Brew, and New York Conducting Institute. She spent two years living abroad in Shanghai, China, before moving to NYC and conducting has taken her to Russia, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. She earned her B.A. in Music Composition from UC Santa Barbara, M.M. in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from UT El Paso.

A. King McCarty (Ashley King) is an artist, writer, actor, musician and founder of Artstoria New York with her husband and fellow creator, Graham McCarty. She is a two-time recipient of the Queens Community Art Grant and an Art Hotel resident artist. She lives near the Hell Gate Bridge with her husband, son and lots of plants and comic books. Visit her on Instagram at @artstoriany and @akingmccarty

Natalia ‘Saw Lady’® Paruz can be heard playing the musical saw on movie soundtracks such as Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, HBO’s The Jinx, Time Out of Mind with Richard Gere, Fox Searchlight’s Another Earth, Dummy with Adrien Brody, etc. She performed with the Israel Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta, with the Westchester Philharmonic, Royal Air Moroccan Symphony, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra and at Lincoln Center with PDQ Bach composer Peter Schickele and with the Little Orchestra Society. She was chosen by Time Out New York and the Village Voice for their “Best of New York” lists and was featured in articles by the New York Times and the Boston Globe.

***

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

Event Information

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (31-83 34th St, Astoria)

September 25, 2024 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Meet “Hell Gate” Storyteller Alicia Lieu

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Our next storyteller is a Jackson Heights/Elmhurst based composer/conductor who hails from San Jose, California.

Meet Alicia Lieu and get your tickets here for our “Hell Gate” show!

Alicia Lieu, Jackson Heights/Elmhurst based composer/conductor hails from San Jose, California. As a composer, she has been awarded grants from QCA and City Artist Corps. She is the creator of Dance-it-Yourself Nutcracker and co-founder of nonprofits Composers Collective, Pitches Brew, and New York Conducting Institute. She spent two years living abroad in Shanghai, China, before moving to NYC and conducting has taken her to Russia, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. She earned her B.A. in Music Composition from UC Santa Barbara, M.M. in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from UT El Paso.

***

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

Event Information

Sep 25 2024 @ 7:00PM

Grove 34 (31-83 34th Street, Astoria)

September 19, 2024 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , , , ,
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